


Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

by yusukewritesangst



Category: Bleach, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: DONT KILL ME THIS IS JUST HIM RANTING, Gen, Izuku has a Zanpakuto, Midoriya Izuku Has a "Quirk", Other Additional Tags to Be Added, bc it doesnt, especially when ppl are discriminating against them, even tho he does now quirklessness is still a touchy subject, follows the events of the manga but they're changed, he draws comparisons b/w all might and endeavor, he's wrong and he'll realize that later, izuku finally takes the ua exams, izuku tells all might off with a huge rant, izuku thinks his zanpakuto is his quirk, izukus frustrated bc he might've not had a quirk when he was younger, kinda follows canon but not really?, not really a quirk but that's to be explained in further chapters lol, the events still happen tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 01:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15425736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yusukewritesangst/pseuds/yusukewritesangst
Summary: Upon realizing he was Quirkless, Izuku's mother reacted differently. She let him learn and thrive in self-defense, and his father helped. He would be eternally grateful for that, because that was what let him to his partner."Kowareta Kinkō," Izuku breathed out, smiling as his friends oohed and ahhed over her, feeding her ego in a way that wasn't all unpleasant.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so!
> 
> I've been reading a lot of Bleach fics lately, and rereading cywscross' works!!! And I decided to read Bleach, and thus this idea was born!
> 
> I won't focus on it as much as my main fic, "I'm Just a Man, I'm Not a Hero", so it won't be updating as much as that one. I hope y'all enjoy it though!

Izuku raised an eyebrow at the giant man-turned-monster raging in the city. Like, really? This was blocking up traffic, people had places to go, things to do, people to piss off, jobs to ditch, all the fun stuff in life. And this dude had to choose  _ today _ to go on a rampage after being cornered for stealing some shit? That was pathetic. If he really wanted to steal that purse, he could’ve done it a better way, without alerting all the heroes in the vicinity.

_ And this is why all of your classmates are afraid of you _ , his spirit, having insisted on being called a Zanpakutō spirit many times, said dryly.  _ You know how to commit a shit ton of crimes and get away with them scott-free _ .

_ Not my fault they’re all wusses _ , he rolled his eyes.  _ Plus, you’re the one who taught me all that stuff. Well, _ he amended, _ helped me learn it at least. Pointed me in the right direction to the material to learn it. _

She laughed, the sound reverberating in the back of his head like that one song he heard on the radio and could never forget until he learned the lyrics and sang it for a few days. It was complete and utter Hell. With a capital ‘h’.  _ Withholding information is never a smart thing to do _ , she replied.  _ I would never do that to you. After all–– _

_ You and I are the same _ , Izuku cut her off.  _ You’re a part of my soul, which is a little confusing, but we’re still somewhat separate entities, just living with the same soul and body, right? _

_ Yup, at least that’s how I saw it when I was ‘born’ _ .

_ Kinkō _ , he whined.  _ It’s weird whenever you say that! Can’t you just say you manifested or something? I didn’t give birth to you or anything! _

_ Right, your mother did that for you _ . Izuku could almost  _ feel _ the smirk his Zanpakutō gave in response to his mental agony and suffering. Whatever, he needed to focus on the fight instead,  _ not _ on any birthing he or his mother might have done or did do in the past.

Kamui was currently fighting the idiot robber, spewing off some bullshit about some reprehensible action he’s done and how his opponent is pure evil––basically the usual spew of garbage coming out of an average hero’s mouth. Really, did they  _ honestly _ believe all that crap coming out of their mouth? Or were they all doing it for the cameras, posing for the public to gain favor, money, and fame?

Call him selfish, but Izuku only wanted to be a hero to see if they were all fake or not.

When he was younger, he had idolized All Might. Nowadays, he wasn’t sure if the guy was even sincere. How many bullies wanted to be like him when they grew up? How many liars? Nobody knew about his private life; so how were they sure that he was even all that good?

_ The best heroes are the ones who operate from the shadows _ , Kinkō chimed in.  _ A real hero doesn’t need the recognition and gratitude being a hero in this society grants them. Giving them that fame and money just brings flocks of posers to prey on everyone’s weaknesses, to put on a smile in public while beating people up because of poor life decisions and shoving them in jail, not helping them or even giving them a choice to stop _ .

_ Once that’s on their track record, not many people are gonna want to take in a ‘villain’, no matter how wronged they were in the past _ , Izuku sighed.  _ That’s gonna be one of the first things we’re gonna have to try and amend _ .

Suddenly, a huge heroine bursts in on the scene, taking what was about to be Kamui’s capture; therefore, also his glory. The crowd went wild as every camera focused on her.

“Today’s my debut!” she chirped, smiling benignly at everyone. “Pleased to meet you all! You can call me  _ Mt. Lady _ !”

Even as she posed for the cameras, Izuku’s mind was whirling with all the possibilities, muttering under his breath as he spun through all of them at a speed much faster than anyone his age should be able to think. “So far, it  _ seems _ like Gigantification, but we can’t be completely certain. If she can enlarge herself, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that she can shrink herself as well. If she  _ can _ , then she may as well be a hidden camera with how you can plant her places and have her spy on conversations. The big form would be decent for combat, although limited via property damage, if she can’t control the exact size she becomes. And then there are  _ limits _ . How far can she grow? As stated before, can she control the exact size? Can she shrink? If so, how small? What does this cost? Calories? Amount of space around her? Time? Although, her name is  _ Mt. Lady _ , which plays on the fact that she is a  _ mountain _ of a lady, thus bringing the attention to her size. Most people nowadays want some name that puts them in a good light as well as broadcasting their Quirk, so she probably can’t shrink, which takes out the possible spy power… though if she  _ can _ control  _ what _ exact size she grows to, then maybe––”

“Taking notes?” the old man next to Izuku interrupted. Goddammit old man, he was trying to  _ focus _ here and beat his record! “I guess you wanna be a hero yourself. Good luck!”

Ugh. The old man had good intentions, which was the worst thing about that. He couldn’t yell at the other without looking like an ass.  _ Fuck _ . All he could do was grit his teeth and force a smile. “Thanks,” he ground out almost painfully. “I’ll try.”

At least the other didn’t realize anything off with his behavior, so he just gave him a pat on the back as Izuku left.

_ You can flesh out your thoughts later and write them down _ , Kinkō said in an effort to placate him.  _ We need to get to class anyways _ .

Izuku grumbled a little, bit easily agreed and headed towards the school. He took his time getting there, not caring whether he was late or not. After all, it wasn’t like he  _ cared _ about the teacher, or any of his classmates for that matter. The only person who  _ might _ have been at least a little bit tolerable and interesting turned out to be easily corrupted by society: Bakugou Katsuki.

The instant Izuku didn’t form a Quirk at the latest possible age, Katsuki abandoned him. Worse, when the doctor confirmed that he didn’t, and would  _ never _ , have a Quirk, Katsuki started bullying him. He didn’t simply  _ aide _ the ones tormenting him—no: he  _ started _ the bullying. That showed Izuku far more of his  _ true _ personality, the one that he would show whoever he deemed  _ below _ him, than Izuku would’ve liked to see in the first place.

Kinkō has helped to boost Izuku’s mind and self confidence, however. She made  _ sure _ that he knew he was more than good enough for her; after all, she was a part of his soul, and she told him that no piece of her was going to be inadequate in any sense.

_ Damn right _ , she snorted.  _ We’re supposed to cause our enemies to suffer in agony, not ourselves _ .

_ All those horror movies and games sure did help us learn how to target one’s mind _ , he thought contemplatively.

_ That was the reason we watched them _ .

Anyways, Katsuki was a dipshit right from the start. No childhood nickname for that asshole; he didn’t deserve it. Kinkō made sure he knew that, and in helping him learn, also showed him all the reasons to abandon his not-friend, even after he tried to make up for his behavior to Izuku; for the wrong reason, though.

Katsuki only tried to reconcile with Izuku because he had a, in the blond’s own words, “ _ cool Quirk, but not as badass as mine _ ”. He didn’t even see the attachment and bond between Izuku and Kinkō; ergo, he was a shit person and didn’t understand what it meant to share a soul with another being. Your entire  _ being _ and  _ existence _ was tied to that other person, human or not. Souls went beyond a brain, and while they held memories that the physical body and mind went through as well as the spiritual body, as ghosts—Pluses, is what Kinkō called them—have shown, the soul was, in essence, the very core of a person.

And so far, Katsuki’s attitude had reflected on what his soul was like.

However, as people can change, so could souls. It was a much slower process, obviously, as the essence of a soul was a bit like reflexes in a way: they’re hard to change once it’s been hammered into a person over and over again. And while some people would have to repress the urge to flinch or to throw someone over their shoulder upon being attacked, Katsuki would have to stop himself from throwing venom-laced words at a person, to beat someone even after they’ve fallen down. More  _ violent _ tendencies than the average person.

While his soul had these urges even from birth, Katsuki’s upbringing sure didn’t help curb them. The teachers turned a blind eye to any violence they saw, the children encouraged him with their cheers and hurtful words, his mother only made matters worse by yelling and screaming at him, and his father could barely keep his head above the water that was the flood surrounding him everyday, drowning in all the problems that nobody was helping with.

Once she was awakened, Kinkō helped Izuku try and set Katsuki straight. They mostly failed; but the blond wasn’t  _ their _ problem anymore. He left them well alone, having broken after three years of stalking and having the paranoia build up, knowing who was to blame but not being able to prove it. He was quite the test run to their tried and true method of testing a person; Izuku wondered if he would have to do that to their new teacher at U.A.; after all, it wasn’t like the teacher would be  _ incompetent  _ or something as stupid as that.

And no matter how hard the test, they would get into U.A. to see how bad the system was in this world of heroes and villains. Nothing was as black and white as it seemed, even though people seemed to like to put their faith into figures that they thought wanted to protect them just because, and not for the money and fame that they really did it for. Stupid. He was once one of those people,  it no more would he have blind faith like the mass of sheep that surrounded him day in and day out.

Even as he walked into the school and settled in his seat, Izuku ignored all of his classmates as they went silent and inched away from him. If they couldn’t handle a little revenge, then they didn’t deserve to even think about being heroes. Pansies, the lot of them.

The room fired up again as Katsuki made his loud entrance, distracting everyone from the coldness of Izuku’s stare with the warmth—almost burning heat—of his temper.

Pansies… all except for one.

Katsuki wasn’t exactly  _ afraid _ of Izuku, although the wary respect came quite close to it every now and then. He still had a short temper and yelled at Izuku, but he could reel himself in when Izuku got annoyed. After the first few times he didn’t… well, Izuku gave him a reason to listen to him.

At least they had a sorta-truce-but-not-quite. They would stay out of each other’s paths for the most part, although Katsuki did still annoy Izuku with his attempts to bully the other into submission, so he got his just dues by creeping out the other and manipulating him into uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous, situations to see how he could get out of them. Sometimes he passed with flying colors; other times he fucked up so bad that Izuku wondered if the blond would even be  _ alive _ without his interference. He often ignored the fact that Katsuki wouldn’t be in all that trouble and need to be saved if it weren’t for him in the first place.  _ Semantics _ . In his humble opinion, he saved the idiot far too often, and would need to be relayed for it in the future, some time soon preferably.

… Though Katsuki would never agree with that logic.

Soon, the teacher came in and the class went quiet, so Izuku just zoned out and stared out the window. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping, and he would rather be out there, napping in the warm sunlight, than be in here, surrounded by cold tile and worthless people.

_ You should be learning, y’know _ , Kinkō said.  _ You don’t come to school just to daze off and let all that knowledge pass in one ear and out the other _ .

_ Sensei probably isn’t even saying anything important, just as usual _ , Izuku rolled his eyes.  _ Plus, it’s basically the end of the year, no teacher is even teaching anything at this point _ .

_ Doesn’t mean there won't be a miracle and they’ll say something that you need to know _ , Kinkō pointed out.  _ Something that you’ll smack yourself for not knowing because it’s so stupid that you didn’t hear about it. So stop laying around and get to work! _

_ All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy _ , Izuku huffed quietly to himself whilst staring out the window, still choosing to ignore the teacher, who was rambling on about whatever asinine topic he decided on today.

_ All play and no work makes Jack a stupid and lazy boy _ , Kinkō retorted.  _ Now pay enough attention to the teacher to at least make sure it’s something we know already, and if it isn’t, then learn, you infernal brat _ .

_ We’re a part of the same soul, so you just called yourself an infernal brat as well _ , he pointed out, looking up at the board to see the nincompoop in the front throw a stack of papers into the air, causing everyone around him to cheer and show off their Quirks.  _ The fuck? _

“––want to be heroes!” the guy exclaimed, before turning around with that stupid smile on his face. “Yes, you all have wonderful Quirks,” he said, not really trying to make everyone else stop showing off. “But you know that it’s against the rules to use them in school!”

Ah. So they were talking about the useless stuff. Well, Izuku already knew where he was going. After all, it  _ was  _ the same high school Katsuki was aiming for. The blond never let him forget it, the insufferable prick he was, trying to start a pissing contest when Izuku showed he clearly wasn’t interested in dick measuring with the other teen. That stuff should be kept to the bedroom.

So he ignored the chaos Katsuki brought with whatever he yelled this time. Probably about how he was the greatest and nobody would ever be at his level and that he shouldn’t be grouped with anyone if they weren’t even at his skill. Somewhere along those lines. Once he heard his name, though, he dragged his attention from the pretty red bird perched on the branch and to the teacher in the front of the room.

“Yeah?” he asked, suppressing a yawn behind his hand as he finally faced the front.

“Y-You’re also going f-for U.A., a-aren’t you, M-Midoriya-san?” the teacher stuttered out, looking as if he was barely keeping from pissing his pants. Huh.

_ … What did I do to this teacher again? _ Izuku asked after a brief moment of silence. Outwardly, he was still quiet, enjoying making his teacher squirm as he stared at him. Finally, he nodded with a quiet hum in the affirmative, and the silence broke. Class continued as normal, and everyone went back to ignoring him.

_ I think this might’ve been the one you stalked _ , Kinkō said with a tinge of sarcasm a little while later.  _ Y’know, the one you did the whole psychological horror thing with? Invisible stalking, creepy notes, rearranging furniture, bloody handprints, floating knives… all that stuff _ .

_ Oh, that _ , Izuku blinked.  _ Didn’t I do that with the female teacher last month, though? _

_ You’ve done it with every teacher this year thus far _ , Kinkō replied, and he could almost  _ feel _ how hard she rolled her eyes at him.  _ Because if they can’t take a little mental pressure— _

_ Then they can’t expect to take any pressure from a teenaged class _ , Izuku nodded to himself.

Since they weren’t doing anything important, and would likely not do such for the rest of the day, Izuku let himself tue back out and focus on the bird outside as it preened it’s feathers. Since it was such a pretty bird with such vibrant colors, it was most likely a male. The males were the aesthetically pleasing ones in the bird species. That was because they had to win over the female’s attention, instead of assuming they had it already as many human males did.

Then again, humans and birds were perhaps more similar in how some acted than people thought. While the female humans were expected to impress the male humans, and the female birds weren’t, the parallels between the male human and male bird were… a lot.

They both had to impress and woo the girl to attain her affections and attention. Many times they did this with more than one, in hopes of getting at least one of them. They were expected to take the lead in a relationship, deciding what to do next. Some abandon the female after sex, some stay. But most importantly, a large portion of male humans, like male birds… didn’t know when to  _ back the fuck off _ .

Some birds basically rape the other, just like humans. Some try to court her properly, just like humans. Some die alone, just like humans. Some gave gifts, some just expected immediate attention; either way, birds were indeed like humans, at least the males. The females were as well, just to a lesser degree.

Evolution was  _ weird _ . Didn’t humans come from monkeys and apes, not birds? Well, it was probably to be expected that traits survived across all species. After all, there was a  _ reason _ that the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ came along. And no, it’s not because of some stupid guy with perfect abs or something. Darwinian’s Theory of Evolution, obviously. The traits that helped the species survive would cause the carrier of those genes to live long enough to pass them onto their offspring, and the process goes on and on. Then something happens, shit gets fucked up, mutations happen, and it starts all over again like some demented cycle of reincarnation. Life goes on, bullshit happens, species go extinct… y'know, the normal stuff.

Not much happened after Izuku went back to ignoring the class. Soon enough, the bell rang to end the day, and he snapped from his mental reverie to gather his belongings. He still had to go home and record more data, finish going over the things he already gathered from Mt. Lady, and then catch up on any recent villains and heroes. After all, he wouldn’t be able to identify any  _ motives _ for either category unless he knew about them. If people thought he was creepy and a stalker just because he knew more than even news reporters did about certain heroes and villains… well, why would he care?

_ It’s not like they’re doing anything important anyways, spying on people’s lives like that _ , Kinkō scoffed.  _ All they want is juicy gossip, unlike us _ .

Izuku nodded quietly, having thrown away all the fucks he might’ve given in the past as to how crazy he would look to anyone else. Besides, it’s not like anyone had the guts to tell him that anymore—not after the reputation he had set for himself here, what with scaring the piss outta any new teacher and his previous bullies. They all knew who was terrorizing them, yet they didn’t have enough  _ evidence _ to  _ prove _ that it was him.

_ The perfect crime _ , he smiled coldly, eyes glinting in such a fashion that made people scurry away from him as he stood up. Alas, not everyone was completely cowed and scared of him, which was partly a shame considering  _ who _ wasn’t afraid of him.

“Oi, creepy eyes!” Katsuki snarled as he sauntered up, posturing as he tried to intimidate Izuku for the eighth time this week; seeing how it was Thursday, that was a new record… as in, eight was abnormally low for how many times Katsuki tried to regain his pride and status as top dog. He always failed, but that evidently didn’t deter him. So much like a stupid dog, he didn’t let go once he found a bone.

“Yes, Katsuki?” Izuku smiled, all teeth and no warmth. He always called the blond by first name, no honorifics. Addressing the other by his last name would tie him to his family, drag his family down with his actions, and for all their shortcomings, they weren’t one hundred percent responsible for Katsuki’s actions. An honorific would imply either respect, fondness, or possibly derision, and he definitely didn’t feel the first two. The third, he forced himself to distance from because it wasn’t doing him any good. And while calling the other teen by only his first name might portray closeness—which they did have, just not the way people might think—or love, he knew that both of them knew he didn’t mean it that way.  _ Both _ of them knew the slight mocking of the tone he took whenever he said that name, and the reasons behind it.

Even as he picked up his notebook and placed it in his bag, Izuku saw the slight twitch in Katsuki’s hand as he restrained himself from snatching it from him. Good. The boy at least knew  _ some _ boundaries at this point.

He resolutely ignored the disappointment emanating from Kinkō that they didn’t need to re-educate the brat.

“The best heroes out there, well…” Katsuki leaned against the desk behind him, slouching in a way that he no doubt thought made him look tough—he just looked like a lazy dumbass in Izuku’s opinion. “They showed signs of greatness even as students.”

Izuku bit back a sigh. He knew where this was going, but he didn’t let it show on his face. All he did was close his eyes and tilt his head, an almost perfectly innocent smile on his face, especially with the cold glint in his eyes hidden. However, his mouth was a little  _ too _ wide, showing more teeth than appropriate, but it did its job of stopping Katsuki in his tracks.

“Aw, thanks for the compliment!” he chirped out, holding his hand to his chest as if bashful, tucking his chin in as his eyes cracked open. The mirth was apparent in the crinkles next to his eyes, even as a fake blush appeared on his cheeks.

“Shut the fuck up, creepy eyes!” Katsuki barked at him like an adorable attack dog who didn’t know what to do when the intruder started petting it. “I’m not fucking talking about  _ you _ ! I’ll be the first and  _ only  _ hero from this crappy public middle school! The first to win the honor of becoming a student at U.A. High. Guess I’m just a perfectionist.” He pushed off of the desk, still slouched with baggy pants slipping like an uneducated slob, and leaned closer to Izuku. “In other words…” he attempted a smile like Izuku had done, but it was a pale imitation of the faux cheerfulness and creepiness the green-haired teen could pull off without an effort. His hand twitched towards Izuku’s shoulder, but settled back at his side quickly as he continued. “Don’t you  _ dare _ get into U.A., nerd!”

Ha. So he was pushing his luck today now, wasn’t he? Kinkō made her delight known eagerly when she realized that he was going to return fire.

“And I suppose your greatness lies in extorting people and bullying all those around you?” Izuku asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow at the now-fuming teen in front of him. “Your perfectionist nature driving you to be number one? But too bad you resemble Endeavor a tad bit too much. Too full of yourself, throwing temper tantrums to get what you want, not caring who you hurt in your quest for power…” he shone his head as he turned away and walked to the door. “Sometimes I wonder how you’d treat  _ your _ children when you get older. Maybe like a tool to further your own ambitions?”

With that said, he left the room, walking towards home. Katsuki  _ was _ a bit too much like Endeavor for him to be comfortable. He  _ knew _ how the man treated his children, especially his son… he didn’t like it, but he couldn’t  _ do _ anything about it, not without more influence and evidence.

His reasons for entering U.A. weren’t  _ completely  _ selfish, after all.

_ We can help him once we have better connections _ , Kinkō said quietly.  _ We won’t leave him there to suffer for much longer _ .

“Oi, we ain’t done here, creepy eyes!” Katsuki called out from the doorway. Izuku turned around and stared at him. After a few moments, he replied.

“Well, get on with it then,” he sighed. “I don’t have all day, y’know.”

“You’re useless, even  _ with _ your Quirk!” Katsuki yelled. “All you should do is find a chick and make her have your children, then all you’ll have to worry about is that your kid hopefully won’t be as much of a pansy ass as you are, maybe they’ll  _ use _ their Quirk correctly unlike yo—”

Katsuki was cut off by a hand slapping his face so hard that he slammed into the doorway. Right in front of him was Izuku.

Katsuki just crossed the fucking line.

“Women,” Izuku started pleasantly, “are  _ not objects _ .” His hand shot up to grasp the material near the idiot’s neck, holding him up against the door frame by just the cloth. “Children,” he continued, face twisting into a sneer as if the blond was the worst smelling trash he’d ever seen, “are  _ not tools _ .” Letting go of the teen who was desperately gasping for air, he took a step back and glared at the other trembling at his feet. His voice rivaled the coldest of winters as he slowly enunciated every syllable in the next word. “ _ Understand _ ?”

“Fuck,” the possibly-soon-to-be-dead idiot gasped out, head jerking back instinctively as Izuku leaned slightly closer. “Yes!” he cried out quickly.

Smart decision.

Ignoring the mess he made and the witnesses surrounding them, he walked away before he could do anything he regretted.

_ Why regret teaching the brat a lesson? _ Kinkō asked sadistically.  _ He brought it upon himself _ .

_ For all that I want to kill him sometimes, I’m trying to help him, not hinder his process of becoming a better person _ , Izuku replied, schooling his face to be utterly blank so his rage wouldn’t be shown to anyone else.

_ Tough love _ , Kinkō responded.  _ Who knows, it might be just what he needs to get his act together _ .

_ Yeah _ …

Izuku hadn’t always been like this, all fake smiles and cold eyes, staring at the world as it went on, unknowing of the eyes watching them judgingly. Before, he had been a lively kid: he wore his heart on his sleeve, and even though he broke down and cried often from the smallest of things, he never gave up. And while he  _ had _ changed, his core, the soul of his being, stayed the same: he never gave up. Just… he’s disillusioned. The world isn’t a good place. He can’t protect  _ everyone _ . He doesn’t even  _ want _ to protect everyone at this point.

When told he didn’t have a Quirk, and would  _ never _ have one, he was sad. He was upset. He clung onto hope, sinking his claws into it so it wouldn’t slip away. His mother… was understandably upset, but she didn’t fall apart like one would expect her to. Instead, she asked him if he wanted to learn self-defense, and which form. He chose Aikido, and his mom signed him up without any fuss.

Then, his dad came home. He didn’t visit very often, and didn’t stay for long when he did, but it was his birthday, and his dad  _ always _ made time for Izuku’s birthday. That time, he brought a katana home: a  _ real _ katana,  _ made out of metal _ . His mom wasn’t even upset, she just asked Izuku if he wanted to sign up for any classes to wield the katana as well. He agreed, and they decided on Iaidō.

However, his dad told him that he should meditate with the blade everyday and try to connect with it. He didn’t know  _ why _ his dad told him to do that, but he did. It took him three years, but eventually Kinkō spoke with him. Izuku was delighted, and told his mom that he had a Quirk. Shortly after, the katana changed into an iron fan.

He had never seen his parents look so  _ confused _ before as they looked at his fan, but after a hushed conversation, they were happy for him. To this day, he still didn’t know exactly why they were confused about his Quirk. He chalked it up to the fact that it didn’t relate to either of their Quirks, and probably neither of their parents Quirks either. After that surprise faded, his parents signed him up for Tessenjutsu classes as well. He got fairly good at it as well. When he was twelve, he started  _ teaching _ the other students instead of being taught himself.

After making his first contact with Kinkō, she taught him a lot about herself and Zanpakutō. She told him her name: Kowareta Kinkō. He thought it was a weird name at first; after all, why would she be called  _ Broken Equilibrium _ ? She just laughed and told him to release her, and he was confused and a little upset. He didn’t know why she would want to go away when she was the one who talked to him in the first place? Instead, she directed him into the woods and told him to release her again.

This time, something in his gut  _ pulled _ , and his mouth opened before he even knew what he was doing. The next thing that happened would forever be cemented into his brain, he would  _ never forget _ the words he spoke and what they invoked.

“ _ Keel over, Kowareta Kinkō! _ ”

His other hand had come up to pull on the other side of the iron fan, and it split into two easily. Except it didn’t  _ break _ —it just became  _ two _ fans instead of  _ one _ . Kinkō explained that this was his Shikai, which was a step up from Sealed Form—she told him that that was what she was in when she was  _ one _ fan—but one step below Bankai. When he asked how to achieve Bankai, she just shrugged and told him to train more. And so he did.

Izuku got Kinkō registered as his Quirk and told his parents about what she told him. Neither of them wanted to keep any secrets from their guardians, it just wasn’t  _ right _ . He was a little confused on how she knew all this stuff when  _ he _ didn’t, especially when she told him that they were a part of the same soul. They both didn’t know exactly  _ why _ she knew what she did, but she did, so that was that.

They went on with their life, Izuku grew a backbone and terrorized all their bullies, and he decided not to care about what anyone said to bring him down. He just kept his chin up and marched forwards, forging his own path in life despite what others thought.

He snapped out of his pondering when he heard a weird sound behind him, almost as if liquid was swishing around.

_ What…? _

“A medium-sized body… to hide in…” a voice came from behind him. Izuku spun around on his heel, bending his knees in preparation to dash away. In front of him was a mass of slime, oozing and dripping, but still in one form. Frankly, it was quite disgusting.

_ Seconded _ , Kinkō almost gagged.  _ Ew, how does that guy even get around? _

_ He probably wears a bag over his head _ , Izuku replied.  _ Or, y’know, turns off his Quirk? _

_ Hush _ .

In their moment of distraction, the villain lunged forwards and wrapped around Izuku.

_ Fuck! _

“Don’t worry,” it said as he struggled. Shit, he had to get free! Fuck, how could he manipulate his energy—Reiatsu as Kinkō had named it—to repel this villain? “I’m just hijacking your body. Calm down. It’ll only hurt for about forty-five seconds… then  _ it’ll be all over _ .”

Well, wasn’t  _ that _ just ominous.

_ Focus! _ Kinkō snapped.  _ Y’know how you can create platforms? Do it close enough to you body and _ —

_ Push outwards _ , Izuku nodded… er well,  _ tried _ to nod at least.  _ It would drive away the villain because it’s basically a wall… _

Even as they devised a plan, the villain continued monologuing. “I’m saved,” he cackled. “You’re a real hero. I never thought  _ he’d _ show up in this town.”

Izuku pulled his hands and arms close to his chest and focused. “No point in trying that,” the villain remarked, probably thinking he was still trying to struggle. He was, but not in the way it was thinking. “I’m fluid, you see!”

Instead of listening, he reached out and  _ pulled _ to manipulate the Reiatsu both in him and surrounding him. It took precious seconds where he lost more and more air, but he finally  _ snapped _ it into place and  _ pushed _ . The slime inched away, being pushed by the barrier even as it tried to push back. Once he had enough room to breathe, he did so eagerly, gasping for sweet, sweet air.

As soon as Izuku was freed from the villain’s grasp, the manhole shot up into the air. “Fear not, kid!” a voice cried out in what he probably thought was a “heroic” tone. Stupid. “I am here!” Izuku tilted his head slightly to see All Might approaching, and from that angle, it still looked like he was captured by the villain. “Texas…” Wait, wait, wait, was All Might going to punch even though it looked like he was being held by the villain? Did he even  _ care _ about Izuku?  _ What the fuck? _ He guessed that the for-the-people attitude the guy showed on TV was fake after all. “Smash!”

The fist shot forwards, barely missing Izuku even as he kept the barrier up. The force of the punch caused the villain to fly in every direction, crying out in shock.

“Shock…” the villain croaked out, “wave?”

Geez. If Izuku didn’t have his barrier up, he would’ve passed out from the pressure from the shockwave. How was All Might a hero again? Heroes shouldn’t be that  _ dense _ . He could’ve  _ hurt _ Izuku if he was anyone else!

_ Let’s string him up by some panties in front of Endeavor’s agency _ , Kinkō growled.  _ It’ll humiliate both of them, and bring unwanted attention to their relationship _ .

_ What relationship? _ Izuku grumbled.  _ The one where Endeavor is a pansy ass little bitch and bitches and whines about not being number one? Or the one where All Might ignores all the warning signs about how Endeavor treats his children? _

All Might quickly snatched a soda bottle and scooped the villain into it, as it had apparently shrunk upon being knocked out and scattered. How would that work? Maybe it’s unconscious control of its powers, or it was the normal state of being it was in. Then would making itself larger be conscious form of outputting energy to hold that state? But then—

“Hey… uh,” Izuku blinked as All Might’s face registered in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at the man, thoroughly unimpressed with the supposed number one hero. “Thank goodness. You’re okay! Excellent!”

The flamboyant idiot posed with one hand on his forehead, holding back hair that was already gelled up. Speaking of his hair, how wasn’t it already cut off by some villain yet? Maybe not some upstart brat trying to steal something, but some villains definitely were… dangerous and smart enough to get the jump on Pro Heroes.

“Apologies,” All Might declared in some stupid voice, “for getting you caught up in my villain hunt. Mistakes like that aren’t my style, but… this is a strange land to me.” He then added, as if it were actually something  _ important _ , “Beside, I’m off camera!”

He then thrust the bottle into Izuku’s face, and the teen flinched back as it got too close for comfort. “But my success here is all thanks to you! I’ve contained the villain!” he declared.

_ Really? Was that how he treated a possibly traumatized civilian? _ Izuku scoffed quietly, hiding his scorn as he looked for his bag that had slipped to the ground somewhere in the struggle. The notebook was lying outside of the bag, opened to a signature that hadn’t been there before.

_ Of course he takes the time to write an autograph _ , Kinkō grumbled.  _ That egotistical, stuck-up, son of a bitch and her wolf! That could be considered vandalism since it was without consent! _

Izuku refrained from rolling his eyes and he shoved the notebook into his bag, deciding that his next test with All Might would choose whether or not he would rip out the autograph and burn it or sell it in eBay. What? It would make him a lot of money, at least.  _ He _ didn’t want it, so if the hero was acceptable, he should be able to profit off of it, right?

“Now I must bring this fellow to the authorities!” All Might exclaimed, ignoring the awkward silence that had descended. Awkward for  _ him _ at least, normal for Izuku. “You can catch me again on TV!”

Wait. Wait,  _ no _ . He still had to test All Might by asking the Ultimate Question! The idiot hero couldn’t just  _ leave _ before he asked!

“Wait!” Izuku called out, swinging his bag over his shoulder. “I have a question.”

“Until next time…” the blond hero just crouched down in preparation to jump, ignoring whatever Izuku was saying. “Thanks for your support!”

As All Might leaped, Izuku dived to grab a hold of his leg. Not one of his brightest ideas, but it got the job done.

_ Really? _ Kinkō asked exasperatedly. Izuku knew that  _ she _ knew why he was doing this, and they  _ both _ knew that there were probably better ways to go about this. But this was  _ All Might _ , the supposedly best hero, number one, and if  _ he _ wasn’t good enough, then how would anyone else be in the public’s eye?

“Hey, now!” All Might cried out, alarmed at the sudden weight on his leg. “Release me! Such enthusiasm is a bit much!”

Wow. Izuku knew that the hero was an idiot, but he didn’t know  _ how much _ he was completely fucking  _ retarded _ .

“If I…” Izuku ignored the pain stinging everywhere as he spoke, unused to the pressure of flying so high and at such speed, “let go now… I’ll… I’ll die…!”

“True enough!” All Might responded. Really?  _ Enough _ ? True  _ enough _ ? There was no  _ enough _ about him dying from this height! They were almost in the  _ clouds _ , if he let go, he  _ would _ die!

“I… need to ask you… something!” Izuku ground out, pinching his eyes shut as he spoke.

“Okay, okay,” All Might agreed, probably to get him to shut up. “Just do me a favor and close your eyes and mouth!”

Soon, they landed on a roof. Izuku quickly regained his senses and stood up, swallowing a bit to get the dryness out of his mouth and blinking moisture into his eyes. Geez, how did the man  _ survive _ going at those speeds and heights? It was probably a part of his Quirk, but  _ still _ … gosh.

“Of all the…!” All Might grumbled as he stared over the edge. “Hopefully the people downstairs will help us get down. I’ve no time though! Truly!”

“Wait!” Izuku exclaimed again as he turned towards the hero.

“No!” he responded. “I will not wait!”

_ Now or never _ .

“Can someone without a Quirk… become a hero like you?” Izuku closed his eyes as he waited for a response. Maybe All Might  _ was _ the hero people said he was. Maybe he was just a poser. To Izuku, this question would answer that.

“Quirks are…” All Might stopped abruptly, inhaling suddenly. What?

Izuku opened his eyes and stared at the foreign man in front of him. “What?” he breathed out in confusion. “Are you…”

“I am All Might,” the sickly man coughed out blood as he said that.

“No way,” Izuku muttered, taken aback. When he couldn’t find as much information as he would like on All Might, he didn’t know that he was hiding something like  _ this _ .

“You know how people hold in their gut at the pool?” All Might explained. “It’s like that!”

“No way,” Izuku repeated under his breath. He couldn’t say anything else, because…

“You’ve seen the real me, kid,” All Might said as he slipped to the ground. “But don’t write about it on the internet, okay?”

“No way,” he said once more. Hiding something like  _ that _ … was truly phenomenal. Was it a part of his Quirk? There’s  _ no way _ it was just like “holding it in your gut” like All Might said! His buff form had true muscles and everything! It  _ had _ to be a part of his Quirk! And  _ how _ could he be reduced to that state? Was it an instantaneous thing? How did he get there? What did it? Was it an injury? Or could it be that his Quirk slowly degraded his health, whatever his magic Quirk was, to give him all these abilities? … What  _ was _ All Might’s Quirk?

All Might cut off Izuku’s thought process unknowingly by pulling up his shirt and showing a wound, the skin looking almost as if it were  _ shattered _ , rib cage dented inwards as he could see every breath the hero took. “Five years ago… an enemy did this to me.”

An… enemy? A villain?

“My respiratory system was nearly destroyed, and my stomach was removed.” As Izuku looked closer, taking a few steps towards the hero despite himself, he could see the stitches. “I’ve wasted away because of the after-effects of those surgeries. I can only do my hero work for about three hours a day now.”

“Five years ago…?” Izuku asked, fishing for information. “Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?”

_ Pfft, as if _ . He knew how to indirectly prompt people to give him what he wanted, however.

“That lowlife?” All Might laughed. “He could never do this to me!” The hero looked down at the floor as he continued. “This was never made public. That is, I  _ asked _ that it not be made public.”

On one hand, Izuku  _ understood _ . The public would outrage, their number one hero brought down by some villain. They would think themselves  _ unsafe _ , and turn on each other in suspicion, because if someone can take down  _ All Might _ , then  _ who knows _ who could be safe or not? On the other hand,  _ it was a completely stupid and fucking selfish decision _ . The hero  _ had _ to have  _ someone _ who cared about him even  _ slightly _ ! And making them watch him literally  _ work himself to death _ … well, that wasn’t a fate he’d wish on anyone. When he became a hero— _ if _ he became a hero—he’d take care of himself if only to not put his parents through the same thing.

“A  _ symbol of peace _ who saves people with a smile…” All Might said quietly, “ _ must never be daunted by evil _ .” He looked up and stared at Izuku, probably to emphasize the importance of whatever he was going to say next. “The reason I smile… is to stave off the overwhelming pressure and fear I feel.”

Well, wasn’t that  _ obvious _ ? It wasn’t like someone could be removed from all those emotions unless something was wrong with their brain.  _ Everyone _ felt those feelings; it was a part of being  _ human _ . If All Might thought that to be strong you needed to not feel those things… he truly was stupider than anyone could ever think he was.

“ _ A Pro Hero should always be ready to risk his life _ ,” All Might stated. Wait,  _ he _ ? Sexist bastard. “Without power, can one become a hero? No, I should think not.”

“Ah…” Izuku sounded. So  _ that _ was his view on this topic. He had thought so, but…

He supposed that he still clung onto the tiniest of hopes that All Might would think otherwise.

“If you desire to help people, becoming a police officer is always an option,” All Might said as he stood up, most likely trying to reassure the teen. He didn’t need to be reassured, not  _ now _ , not when he  _ did _ have a Quirk… but still… “Those  _ villain custody officers _ are often mocked, but… that too is admirable work!”

The hero opened the door and paused in the doorway, holding it open for a moment before speaking. “It’s not wrong to dream,” he said. “However… you need to be realistic, kid.” The door swung shut after him, leaving Izuku on the roof with only himself and the other part of his soul.

_ Well… at least our suspicions are confirmed _ , Kinkō said almost inaudibly if she weren’t in his head, having been silent for the whole interaction.

_ Yeah _ .

Izuku just sighed as he exited the door after a few minutes, plodding along the streets as he rearranged his thoughts. They already suspected that everyone, even the number one hero, had that point of view. It was a  _ stupid _ point of view, but Izuku couldn’t really change it, not as fast as he could have if he  _ didn’t _ have a Quirk. He did now, and while it was a relief when he was younger, it didn’t help convince others that Quirkless people weren’t  _ useless _ .

An explosion drew his attention to the crowd on his left, across the street.  _ Another _ villain fight? Why weren’t the heroes dealing with it?

Wait…

That was…

Shit. That was the slime villain. But didn’t All Might already capture him?

Oh,  _ shit _ . The hero must’ve dropped him.

That meant that this was  _ Izuku’s fault _ .

“Why’re the heroes just standing there?” some guy asked.

“Seems the villain’s grabbed a middle schooler,” his friend responded.

Double fuck on a stick. How long had it been? Forty-five seconds was the limit, though Izuku suspected that wasn’t a hard limit unless the slime had properties that forced the victim unconscious… no. Now wasn’t the time, not when someone was in  _ trouble _ . At least, not when it was  _ Izuku’s _ fault.

The crowd muttered as they started doubting All Might because the villain escaped him, but Izuku paid them no mind. Yes, it was his fault that the villain got free, but it wasn’t like All Might was a genuine hero after all. He could deal with the fall out from his  _ fans _ . He probably  _ deserved _ it too. Did he even mean all that crap he spewed out? Probably not. Asshole.

_ D’you wanna save him or her? _ Kinkō asked.  _ You know that you can always use me. Even in Sealed Form I can do a lot of damage in the hands of someone who knows how to wield me. And you know how to wield me, to a level that would demolish this novice. You felt his movements while he tried to suffocate you, he was an amateur. Sloppy, choppy movements, not fluid _ .

_ Ironic seeing as he is fluid _ , Izuku muttered.

Kinkō laughed even as Izuku dashed forwards, ignoring the heroes who tried to stop him with outstretched hands. Even as he saw who the victim was, he still went to help, because he fixes his own mistakes. He wasn’t a toddler anymore.

Once he was close enough, he threw his bag at the only part of the body that wasn’t slime: the eye. Really, it was a no-brainer. Why were all the heroes standing there when a weak point was so  _ obvious _ ?

The bag hit it’s mark and the villain yelped in brain, allowing Izuku to get close enough to open his fan and  _ slash _ .

Blood sprayed and stained his fan.

The villain screeched and dropped Katsuki rather ungracefully on the floor, curling in on itself as it tried to stop the bleeding. “What!”

“You idiot!” Katsuki choked out. “Why’d you do that?”

Izuku ignored the screaming of everyone behind him and answered the blond without even looking at him. “I fix my own mistakes.”

Because really, all of this was a mistake.

_ Except for when we found out how All Might truly was a fraud _ , Kinkō said coldly. She was right.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed both of their arms, dragging them together. Izuku forced himself not to yelp even as Katsuki screamed.

“The lesson I left you with…” All Might panted, exhausted, sweat running down his skin, “I should practice what I preach!” He cocked his other fist back, aiming towards the villain. “A Pro should always be ready to risk his life!”

_ Again, sexist dick _ .

“Detroit Smash!”

The resulting blow blew the slime villain everywhere, and Izuku and Katsuki were almost taken with it if it weren’t for the hero holding onto their arms. Huh. At least he  _ kinda _ cared about their health, enough to not let them splatter against a building or something.

Rain started falling as All Might dropped the two of them on the ground. Izuku forced himself to at least sit up, one hand still holding onto Kinkō despite all of what he just went through.  _ Nothing _ would make him let go of his partner, a part of his  _ soul _ , his very  _ being _ and  _ existence _ .

_ Nothing _ , not even Hell itself.

“No way,” the crowd murmured. “The air pressure… that rising air current… he changed the weather with a  _ single punch _ ! Amazing. That’s…  _ All Might _ !”

The crowd cheered, but Izuku’s mind was already focused on other things. The slime villain.

It was currently being carted away in several trash bags, but that didn’t make sense, given that All Might could fit it’s whole body in a  _ soda bottle _ . And it was unconscious  _ again _ , so neither would be its natural state. And it was roughly the same size as it was when it was trying to possess Izuku, so the size didn’t matter. So,  _ how _ ?

He couldn’t find a solution right now, and that was just sad. It was testament to his mental state at the moment.

Izuku ignored the heroes around him as they praised Katsuki and scolded him. They were inconsequential—well, maybe not  _ completely _ because he would have to pop Katsuki’s ego later, but inconsequential to  _ him _ —and he had more important things to think about. Like the slime villain, how he was going to change the hero system for the better, and dinner. Hopefully his mom wasn’t  _ too _ worried. He was on the news, after all, and he just confronted a villain. He’d have to sit down with her and talk about the upcoming risks of being a hero-in-training, and then maybe a hero.

So Izuku just slung his bag back on and walked home. Soon, he was stopped.

“Hey, creepy eyes!” Katsuki called out. Izuku stifled a sigh yet again. He just wanted to go home, eat dinner, and sleep. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently so. Still, he stopped to listen to whatever the blond wanted to say. “I never asked you to save me! As if you could! Huh? Well? I could’ve beat him myself!”

So  _ that’s _ what this was about. Izuku figured as much. Fuck, he didn’t want to pose and posture and threaten and manipulate right now.

“How dare someone like you pity me!” Katsuki continued ranting. Izuku just let him get it out. It wouldn’t help the other calm down, but he didn’t care. “You don’t even  _ use _ your Quirk properly! You might as well be Quirkless for how useless you are! Trying to win me over? Don’t you dare mock me!” He finally turned around, baggy pants looking as if they were about to fall right off him. “Stupid nerd!”

Izuku was again alone with only him and Kinkō once more.  _ Finally _ .

Alas, it was not meant to be.

“I am here!” All Might declared as he rounded the corner, stopping in front of the teen.

Izuku raised an eyebrow, forcing his face to go coldly blank once more, hiding the exhaustion in his eyes. “Why are  _ you _ here? I thought you were talking to your  _ fans _ .”

If All Might noticed the scorn in his voice, he very tactfully didn’t point it out. As it was, he was probably being an idiot and not noticing when someone didn’t want to talk to him much less  _ see _ him, not even on TV. Asshole.

“Shaking them off is nothing to me!” the blond hero exclaimed egotistically. “After all, I’m All Mi—” he choked out another stream of blood, coughing into his arm as he deflated into his sickly-looking form.

Izuku didn’t act shocked this time, as he expected it. The hero was already pushing his limits, as evidenced earlier by changing back in front of a supposed fan. No wonder he wanted to get away from the press as soon as possible.

“Kid,” the hero said solemnly. “I’ve come to thank you and revise what I said earlier… I also have a  _ proposal _ .”

Oh fuck no.

He was about to open his mouth and tell the idiot in front of him where he can stick that  _ proposal _ when the aforementioned idiot continued without letting him get a word in edgewise.

“Without you… if I hadn’t heard your story…” All Might said. “I’d have been nothing but fake muscles and insincerity! So thank you!”

_ So he admitted that he’s not sincere _ , Kinkō said slowly.  _ He may be rehabilitable… possibly _ .

_ We’ll see _ , Izuku responded shortly.

Outwardly, he only raised an eyebrow. The hero visibly floundered for a moment before continuing once again.

“Of all the people at the scene…” All Might insisted, “it was only  _ you _ , timid and Quirkless, who acted!”

_ Timid? _ Izuku laughed without twitching even a single facial muscle. Admittedly, it took quite a bit of effort.

_ Quirkless? _ Kinkō cackled.  _ Oh, his face when he’s gonna find out! I can’t wait to see it! _

“You spurred me to action!” the hero declared, ignorant of their mirth at his words. “Most of the top heroes showed signs of greatness even as children. Many of them claim that… their bodies simply moved before they could think!”

_ Oh, there was thought put into that action _ , Izuku responded mentally.  _ If it weren’t me who caused Katsuki to be attacked, I wouldn’t have intervened at all _ .

_ He deserved it anyways _ , Kinkō laughed.  _ Took him down a peg _ .

“You  _ can _ be a hero.”

_ Oh buddy, we already knew that _ .


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku crushes All Might's dreams for him as payback for the hero crushing Izuku's lingering hopes about him. By all means, the Pro Hero should want nothing to do with Izuku... so why did he stick around and help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh, I've been procrastinating so much on other things just writing this, because I got a ton of inspiration for this idea all of a sudden...
> 
> (I blame all the Bleach fanfiction I'm reading. It's certainly not helping me focus on my summer homework!)
> 
> Well... at least all of you get another chapter out of it? Yay!

_ So…  _ Izuku trailed off slowly.  _ Did… he come here just to say that? _

_ Wouldn’t put it past him, _ Kinkō responded.  _ Maybe we can get some info outta this. Y’know, like, his Quirk? Blackmail works wonders, especially when it’s over people in high power. _

“I believe you’re worthy,” All Might spread his arms out, hands to the sky, as if he were some all-powerful being.  _ Well, he kinda is…  _ “of inheriting my power!”

_ Wait what? _

“Huh?” Izuku asked, eyes opening wide in shock. He couldn’t help it! Nobody had ever heard of passing down a Quirk! Or… was his power even a Quirk? Who knew? Aliens might exist. The world was a vast, scary place to live in.

_ Pay attention, _ Kinkō reprimanded him. Izuku just blinked owlishly at the hero in front of him.

“What’s that face for?” All Might laughed loudly, coughing into his arm slightly. “It’s a proposal! The real work begins here. Listen, my boy…”

He wasn’t  _ anyone’s _ boy except for his parents. What was this creepy, fake, sexist pedo thinking? Who the fuck did he think he  _ was? _ Well… he was All Might, number one hero, defender of peace and justice, blah-dee-blah-blah, boring useless shit to fan the public’s passion for him. So, a glory hound and a useless pile of shit. Fun.

However, he didn’t show any of this outwardly. He wanted  _ answers, _ dammit!

_ And blackmail! _ Kinkō piped up.

“I’m asking  _ you… _ ” All Might pointed his finger at Izuku, blood spurting out of his mouth all the while, “if you want to  _ try _ accepting my power!”

_ … He didn’t outright say Quirk, _ Kinkō pointed out.

_ Yeah, _ Izuku responded.  _ He said “power.” As if there was a difference. _

_ There might be. _

“This concerns my Quirk, kid,” the deflated hero rubbed his mouth clean of the blood. At least he possibly somewhat  _ maybe _ cared about a  _ little _ hygiene then.

_ Now he said Quirk. _

“The tabloids like to guess that it’s ‘super strength’ or ‘boost of power,’” All Might continued. “And I avoid the question in interviews by making jokes.” Oh dear, here came the dramatic wind of drama… “Because All Might, the ‘Symbol of Peace’… has to come off as a natural-born hero.” Jerk. He was just digging his hole deeper. “But my Quirk…” the hero stopped for a dramatic pause, “it was  _ passed down _ to me. Like the Olympic Torch.”

“Passed…” Izuku mumbled, “down to you… interesting…”

“Yes,” All Might stated. “And now it may be your turn.”

“Wait a moment…” Izuku narrowed his eyes slightly, shifting his weight onto his heels and back as he rocked back and forth on his feet. He started muttering under his breath to himself and Kinkō, trying to organize their thoughts out. “So if his Quirk was passed down to him… then there must’ve been a chain of people before him. Then, what happened to them? What gruesome fates awaited them at the end of the line? Even disregarding  _ that _ line of thought, how come people didn’t see this earlier? This Quirk is so flamboyant and outrageously OP that people  _ must’ve _ seen at least the  _ slightest _ of correlation between this Quirk and the previous holders’. Even if I accept this Quirk, people will draw a connection between me and All Might, thus painting a bigger target on my back then there would be in the  _ first _ place, and putting unnecessary pressure on a teenager still going through puberty. If I were a lesser being, I would accept this in a heartbeat… but now… besides, this sounds so much like a shady science experiment where the test subjects would get strapped down on a table and injected with crappy drugs to see what happens…”

“You really doubt me that much?” All Might shouted, breaking Izuku’s line of thought. “Nonsense! I have many secrets, but I never lie! I have the ability to  _ transfer _ power… that’s the Quirk I inherited! It is called… One For All!”

“One For All…” Izuku parroted.

_ Interesting name, _ Kinkō sneered.  _ It implies that one person bears the weight of the world. _

_ Gruesome, _ Izuku agreed.

“The first person cultivates the power,” All Might explained, “and then passes it to another. The next refines it and passes it on again… in this way, those crying out to be saved and those with brave and true hearts link to form a crystalline  _ network _ of power!”

_ Test two… _

“Then why me?” Izuku asked simply.

“I’ve been searching for a successor for a while now…” the sickly man raised a finger, “and I believe that you are worthy!”  _ Hm… _ “You may be Quirkless. A mere hero admirer. But… back there, you were more heroic than  _ anyone _ else!”

_ That wasn’t heroic, _ Kinkō snapped out.

_ That was cleaning up after our own mess! _ Izuku finished. He held up a hand in front of his mouth to hide the smile that stretched behind it, too tired to keep his stony or shocked visage. Acting took a lot out of someone, especially when that person did it every second of the day!

“But of course it depends on you!” All Might concluded. “What do you say?”

_ At least he’s giving us a choice, _ Izuku snorted.

_ Not much of a choice… _

_ If it were anyone else. _

Izuku took a deep breath and collected himself. He forced the smile off his face even as the Pro Hero in front of him watched him with eager eyes. It was hard, but he finally slapped his mask of indifference back on. At last, he lowered his hand and stared at the skinny son of a bitch in front of him, and replied.

“No thanks.”

All Might jerked back in surprise, shock written all over his face. Evidently, he thought that Izuku would accept his proposal without a second thought.

“Wh-what…?” he stuttered. As Izuku was about to walk off, he quickly continued. “W-wait! You should take a little more time to think this over!”

“I’ll think it over once you tell me more about the risks,” Izuku shot back, rolling his eyes as he walked away. Just… really? He wasn’t some blind fanboy anymore. He had knowledge! The knowledge of  _ anime and manga! _

So therefore the knowledge to know when things were gonna go to shit because someone wasn’t explaining something as well as they should be. And this, right here, was raising a shit ton of red flags. He didn’t want to die young! He had a life ahead of him! Plus, he had Kinkō already, and she was the only partner he’d ever need in life.

_ Aw, that just melts my heart, _ Kinkō cooed.

“But—”

“But nothing,” Izuku interrupted.

_ You sit on your butt, _ Kinkō snickered.

_ Nice one. _

_ I’ve been saving it up for a while! _

“Until you tell me all the terms and conditions,” Izuku continued, “I won’t accept that power of yours. I’m at least smart enough to read all the fine print so it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. After all…” he turned around slightly, just enough so that the hero behind him could see the too-wide grin on his face, “knowledge is power.”

_ Now let’s see what he does with that statement… _

All Might stared at Izuku with wide eyes for a moment before finally reacting. “Y-you…” he croaked out, “you can’t… tell anyone. About…” he gestured at his body, “this.”

Izuku just raised an eyebrow before dropping the grin. “I have no reason to,” he replied. As soon as the hero deflated in relief, he continued while battling against the smirk that was trying to grace his face. “For now.”

The skinny man immediately tensed up again, staring at Izuku with a pleading face. Izuku just sighed.

“As long as you give me no reason to,” the green-haired teen started walking away again, “then your secret is safe with me.”

A few seconds passed while he walked away, before All Might spoke again.

“Are you sure that this is your answer?” he called out.

“Yes,” Izuku said simply.

Footsteps approached him from behind, and he stifled the urge to screech as he stopped and turned around yet  _ again. _ “What?” he asked shortly, his temper close to the surface.

“Are you aiming for U.A.?” All Might asked him, looking uncharacteristically grim.

“Yes,” Izuku repeated. When were people going to leave him well  _ alone? _ He was  _ tired _ of all the shit going on today. He just wanted to take a fucking nap already. Really, it seemed like the universe thought that that was too much to ask for. Dammit.

“Do you have a solid plan to get in despite being Quirkless?”

What.

The.

_ Fuck. _

Bruh.

“Being Quirkless isn’t a crime, nor is it something that drags a person down!” Izuku yelled, temper finally reaching the breaking point. “It’s merely a draw of the lottery, a  _ chance _ that it’ll happen, and even if it  _ does _ happen, it’s not something to be ashamed of! People  _ before _ Quirks even happened managed quite fine! In fact! Once Quirks manifested, crime actually went  _ up! _ So Quirks could even be the  _ cause _ of this deterioration of society! And discrimination against Quirkless people shouldn’t exist! You don’t get to  _ choose _ what Quirk you have, or if you  _ get _ a Quirk in the first place!”

He panted for breath and then marched up towards the very pale hero in front of him, shoving his finger in the other’s face. “And  _ you! _ ” he screeched, voice shrill from how high-pitched it was at the moment. “People like  _ you _ are why society is falling apart! You think that nobody can do  _ anything _ if they’re Quirkless! You motherfucking piece of a shit bag and a cunt breeded with a bitch sired by a frog!  _ You! _ You’re supposed to be the person people look  _ up _ to! A  _ role model! _ Not one that the  _ bullies,  _ the  _ murderers, _ the  _ discriminators _ look up to in awe! A ‘Symbol of Peace,’” he spat out the title, jabbing the outstretched finger into the hero’s chest, “should be someone who the  _ beaten, _ the  _ victims, _ and the  _ discriminated _ look up to and find the strength to go through their day! Fuck!”

Izuku threw his hands up into the air in exasperation. “Hey, look at it  _ this _ way, dipshit! Having a Quirk not only gives you more  _ strengths, _ but it also gives you more  _ weaknesses! _ Strength Quirk! You can kill people on accident if you don’t control yourself, you can also hurt  _ yourself _ in the process! Mind Reading Quirk! If you can’t turn it off or control it, you can go fucking batshit insane! Heck, take Eraserhead! All  _ he _ does is strip people of their Quirks so they can fight at his level! And it doesn’t even work on Mutant Quirks! So he basically fucking fights  _ Quirkless, _ you arrogant son of a bitch!”

Izuku panted for breath after that long, loud outburst, clearing his throat as he backed away. He then continued, voice a little hoarse from all the screeching. “If you think you’re so high and mighty just because you have a strong Quirk…” he sighed, “then you’re truly no better than Endeavor: a big, fat, fucking  _ bully. _ ”

_ Ooooooh, _ Kinkō sounded quietly. Other than that, she stayed silent. The dumbass hero in front of them ruined  _ both _ of their moods with his careless words, demolishing  _ any _ hope they had for him.

_ Childhood dreams really do get crushed all the time then, huh. _

With that, he turned smartly on his heel and marched home, way past giving any fucks about any commotion going on around him. Thankfully, the rest of the day passed without much of a fuss. He completed his homework, ate dinner, did his chores, caught up on the news, and then went to sleep.

His morning was just as uneventful. Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school, and piss Katsuki off here and there.  _ After _ school is when things got interesting.

Because on his walk home, All Might was there again. In his deflated, sickly form.

_ Persistent fucker, _ Kinkō grumbled.  _ Does he need another scolding session, or has he seen the light and is crawling back with his tail between his legs to beg for forgiveness? _

_ Either way, it’s not going to be that easy for him, _ Izuku responded with narrowed eyes, still walking towards the hero despite not wanting anything to do with the other for a long time.

“What do you want this time?” he asked the instant he got close enough to not have to yell. This time, he wasn’t going to be very patient or kind. The hero already expressed his opinions on the topic of Quirklessness, and it was an idiotic opinion indeed.

“I’ve thought things over…” All Might said quietly, a stark contrast from yesterday when he was loud and exuberant, “and I’ve decided to extend my help to you, if you’ll accept it.”

Izuku stopped in front of the man and raised an eyebrow. “What  _ help _ are you offering?”

“Training,” the blond answered, continuing on to elaborate without being prompted. “There’s a beach nearby that is in dire need of being cleaned up. We’ll both clean it up together, with me handling the bigger pieces that you wouldn’t be able to move without anything to enhance your strength.” The  _ without you accepting my Quirk _ went unsaid but still very heard. “Along with that, if you go on daily jogs, that will help increase your stamina. If you will allow me to help you, I can help you prepare for the U.A. exam.”

“Is this an apology,” Izuku asked, “or an offering out of pity?”

“An apology,” All Might insisted. “As well as an offer to back you up in the community of heroes. Against non-believers.”

Izuku was fairly certain that there was an ulterior motive there too, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t defend himself against stupid heroes trying to shove their Quirk on some helpless kid without explaining the dangers behind it. He didn’t have anything to lose by accepting  _ this _ offer.

“Alright,” he agreed. “When do we start?”

It turned out that cleaning up the beach had to start at six in the morning, and so they were there, lugging all sorts of trash into the back of a truck. And there were  _ all _ sorts of trash. Fridges, couches, lamps, chairs, wrappers, half of a bathtub… name it and it was probably there.

Slowly but surely, Izuku built his way up to being able to carry the couches by himself. All Might still dealt with the really heavy stuff, but he still pushed Izuku to challenge himself with the bigger things as well. The green-haired teen rose to the challenge, and began growing stronger.

Still, even though he grew stronger, it didn’t  _ really _ show on his body. He didn’t have muscles as prominent as All Might’s, thankfully. Honestly, those looked rather disgusting in his and Kinkō’s opinion. He didn’t want to be a rock! He’d rather have softer skin and be at least a  _ little _ squeezable. That was optimal for hugs. Nobody wanted to hug a brick, and Izuku rather liked hugs.

Anyways, they didn’t train in  _ complete _ silence. There were some conversations, though none were about very personal matters. Well, personal matters such as one’s personal life. There were conversations about All Might’s Quirk, and that  _ could _ be classified as personal, if not top secret.

“Does your Quirk have any drawbacks?” Izuku asked, then tacked on quickly. “Well, except for the obvious?”

“To be able to wield One For All,” All Might explained, “one has to be a fit enough vessel physically. Without the ability to control that strength coursing through your body, your limbs would pop right off!”

_ And when were you going to tell that to us? _ Kinkō asked dryly, very unsatisfied with this idiot of a man in front of them.  _ After you gave us that Quirk or before? _

“Then you might wanna explain things better to your successor,” Izuku pointed out bluntly. “Unless you want them to run screaming the instant they find out the repercussions might outweigh the benefits.”

The buff hero laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he dumped the fridge in the back of the truck. “Yeah… I’ll take that advice to heart.”

A few days later, another question popped into Izuku’s mind.

“Why’d you choose cleaning the beach as a training method?” he asked as he folded up the couch so he could carry it more easily.

“The young heroes today only want fame and glory,” All Might declared.  _ And you don’t? _ “But being a hero is all about  _ volunteer _ work! No matter how unglamorous! Never forget that…” He then crushed the pile of trash he had his hand on, showing the horizon as the sun glinted on the water. “ _ Let’s bring back this beautiful ocean view! _ ”

Izuku and Kinkō were thoroughly unimpressed. “Thanks for making those pieces easier to carry,” he said blandly, walking over and throwing them on the back of the truck, ignoring the overdramatic moping the hero did when they ignored his melodramatic statement.

_ Maybe… maybe he’s not all that bad if he understands that message. _

Along with training with All Might, Izuku and Kinkō worked together on other subjects. They worked on Kidō… which Izuku was completely unashamed to admit that he stole from Bleach. He still didn’t know why Kinkō knew the names before he stumbled across that certain manga, or why his Quirk resembled the Shinigami’s powers to a T, but he certainly wasn’t questioning it. And if he used what little information the manga provided as a guide for his training… well, nobody was around to question him, right? And Kinkō didn’t care, she pointed out that what  _ she _ knew also aligned with what the manga provided.

Although… the incantations were really too fucking long for the Kidō, so he just threw those out the window and just manipulated his Reiatsu to do the shit that he wanted it to do. It was actually pretty easy—much easier than the manga made it appear to be. Really, it was  _ his _ energy, just an extension of his power, so why  _ wouldn’t _ it to what he wanted it to do? All he had to focus on was experimenting with how  _ much _ of his Reiatsu he used to power each individual Kidō, so he knew how much he had to use to be the most efficient in saving his power.

But the series only had so much Kidō to show… so he invented a shit ton of his own. He took a little inspiration from some… other manga as well. A bit from Naruto, some from Fairy Tail… and of course, the base of it all from Bleach.

Neither of them really wanted to think about why his Quirk was so similar to a Shinigami’s power. That hornet’s nest was better left unstirred.

So for Kidō, he practiced walking on walls—taken straight from Naruto—using his Reiatsu to create walls to push things—that basically took the same effort as it did to walk in mid-air, and the same technique as well—and was currently puzzling out how to fly. All of those, plus many more things of his own invention—and other things taken from manga.

On top of his physical training and Kidō practices, he had even more work with studying for the entrance exam. That, honestly… was the easiest part of the whole damn thing.

Soon enough, the beach was cleared, and there were three days before the entrance exam. Izuku didn’t waste anytime gawking at the new view of the horizon like All Might did; instead, he got straight back to work, jogging home. The hero let him go.

Even though their training was over, the Pro Hero still joined him on his daily jogs. Finally, the day of the entrance exam began, and the morning jog was not as silent as the ones before it.

“You nervous?” All Might asked on his scooter, cheating his way out of actually exerting energy like Izuku was doing. There wasn’t even a reason for the man to be here anymore, now that the beach was cleared and the training came to an end. And it wasn’t like the blond was even doing anything worthwhile, just scootering in silence as Izuku jogged next to him.

“Nah,” Izuku replied shortly, regulating his breathing so that it didn’t come out short-of-breath and airy. “If I don’t get in, then I don’t get in.”

“That’s a mature way to look at it,” the sickly man noticed. “Realism is a mark of a good hero… just be careful not to let it turn into pessimism!”

Izuku just nodded and focused on keeping his breaths even as his feet hit the ground. As they parted ways at the corner of a street, All Might called out to him even as he was going back home.

“Good luck!”

_ As if we’d need it, _ Kinkō snorted.

Izuku smiled and entered their home.

By the time he finished getting ready, his mom had breakfast ready and was more worried than he was about the whole thing.

“You have everything?” she asked him as he ate. “Fan? Notebook? Knives? Exploding marbles? Earbuds? Lucky charm? Extr—”

“Mom,” he finally cut her off as he finished eating, placing his plate in the dishwasher once it was clean.

“Well?” she asked again, undeterred by his non-response.

He sighed and gave in. “Yes, no but I have a recorder so I can analyze on the move, yes, yes, yes, yes, and they most likely provide extra clothes if mine somehow get destroyed.”

“How much battery life does the recorder have?” his mom continued her mini-interrogation.

“Enough to last twenty-four hours, with the same amount of memory, and I have an extra set of batteries.”

“How many knives? What type?”

“Two butcher knives and a butterfly knife.”

“Don’t get  _ too _ much blood on the butcher knives, I still need to use those in the kitchen. At least clean them up afterwards. How many bags of marbles?”

“Four bags of twenty, all hanging at my waist underneath my jacket. Easy access by sticking a finger in there, and then only grabbing one by using the Kidō to make it stick to that finger. Fling it at the enemy and then you have a Katsuki-style explosion.”

“Good. Don’t sound so familiar with that bully. Earbuds?”

“Two, one on right now and the other in my pocket.”

“Charm?”

Izuku just held up his arm and let the sleeve drop enough to show the bracelet around his wrist.

“Alright,” his mom relented. “Good luck, and make sure to let me know when you’re done!” She ushered him out the front door as soon as he got his bag on, and keys and phone in his pocket.

The earbuds and exploding marbles were things he also invented. The earbuds drew inspiration from Eraserhead’s scarf, as they functioned with the same purpose. He didn’t know exactly  _ what _ material the scarf was made out of, but Izuku figured out a Kidō that not only toughened the wire, but also made it be able to extend and maneuver in mid-air.

The marbles, on the other hand, functioned like Katsuki’s Quirk. They were a lot smaller, as they were the size of an actual marble, but they contained a mixture akin to a dynamite, but more potent. It wasn’t  _ pure _ nitroglycerin as Katsuki’s Quirk was, no. It was a combination of chemicals that made for a bigger  _ boom _ with a smaller container. And he had eighty marbles on his person.

_ I pity the fools who have to fight us,  _ Kinkō remarked as they took the subway to the school.

When they reached the school, Izuku paused to look at the massive set of buildings in front of him.  _ Even though we knew it would be this big, we looked at the measurements and everything… _

_ It doesn’t prepare you for seeing it in real life, _ Kinkō agreed.

“Move aside, creepy eyes!” a familiar voice spat out from behind Izuku.

He turned around and saw the explosive blond. “Good morning, Katsuki,” he greeted amicably. Sadly, his friendly demeanor was not returned.

“Get out of my way or you’re dead,” the possibly-soon-to-be-hero-in-training growled as he stormed past the green-haired teen.

“Best of luck!” he called out after the annoyed teen, ignoring the loud hiss in response. Really, some days the teen acted like a dog, and others he was almost a cat.

Izuku just smiled and walked after the other; but someone kicked his leg from behind, whether on accident or on purpose he didn’t know, and he tripped.  _ Shit. _

He was prepared to roll the instant he hit the ground and just continue walking, in fact he started curling up in preparation to do so, but his bag started pulling him upwards by the straps.  _ Eh? _

“Are you okay?” a girl asked him, cheeks a bit rosy from the chilly air.

“Yeah, thank you,” he replied. “Could you perhaps let me down?”

“Yeah!” she chirped as she touched her fingertips together. “It’s my Quirk. Sorry for stopping you, but… well, it’s a bad omen to trip and fall.”

“Thank you,” he repeated, then grinned a little. “Might I get the name of my savior?”

“Uraraka Ochako!” the brown-haired girl smiled in return. “And you?”

“Midoriya Izuku,” he readjusted his bag and patted his pockets absentmindedly to make sure nothing was dislodged or lost.

“This sure is nerve-wracking,” Uraraka sighed, looking out over the crowd. “Well, good luck to both of us!” She waved at him as she walked away.

_ … That was technically your first time talking to a girl who’s not family or a part of your soul, y’know, _ Kinkō pointed out.

_ So? _ Izuku asked.  _ It’s not our fault that everyone was scared of us in our previous schools. _

_ Yeah it was… _

_ Oh, hush, you. _

He ignored his Zanpakutō’s snickering as he finally reached the classroom to take the written test. It was easy, and soon enough, they were ushered to a stadium to take the practical.

To his luck, he was seated right next to Katsuki.

“How’d you do on the written?” he asked cheerily as he plopped down next to the perpetually angry teen.

“Shaddup,” was the only reply he received, angrily muttered into the other’s hands. No conversation was to be had there. Pity.

“Welcome to today’s live performance!” Present Mic exclaimed. “Everybody say ‘hey’!”

After a second of silence, Izuku decided to take pity on the man. “Hey,” he said monotonously, not loud enough to be shouting, but enough so to be heard in the complete silence by everyone.

“Thank you, little listener!” the hero shouted, continuing on with no less enthusiasm than before. “I’m here to present the guidelines of your practical! Are you ready?  _ Yeah! _ ”

Again, silence reigned. “Yay,” Izuku once more decided to supply a response.

“This is how the test will go, my listeners!” the man forged on, not at all shaken by the lackluster reactions from his audience. “You’ll be experiencing ten-minute-long ‘mock city maneuvers’! Bring along whatever you want!” Good. Then all his equipment would be in the rules, nothing would have to be confiscated.  _ Perfect. _ “After this presentation, you’ll each head to your assigned testing location! Okay?”

“Yup,” Izuku took advantage of the silence again.

“That’s so kids from the same middle school can’t help each other out, yeah?” Katsuki asked once the voice hero was rambling on again about the rules. Wow. Izuku thought that the blond would remain forever silent and moody towards him. What a novelty.

“Correct,” Izuku hummed. “That’s why consecutive I.D. numbers are assigned to different locations.”

“I’ll crush them all,” Katsuki grunted. “But  _ you _ get to live another day.”

Well, wasn’t that nice.

“Each site is filled with three kinds of  _ faux villains, _ ” the Pro Hero continued. “Points are awarded for defeating each according to their respective difficulty levels! Use your Quirks to disable these faux villains…” Dumbass. Quirks weren’t  _ everything. _ “And earn points! That’s your goal, listeners! Of course, playing the antihero and attacking other examinees is prohibited!”

Some guy with glasses and broad shoulders stood up, his hand shooting straight into the sky. “May I ask a question!” Without even waiting for a response, he went on. “There appear to be no fewer than  _ four _ varieties of faux villain, on this handout!” He shoved the paper into the air, pointing at something on it as if he expected  _ anyone _ to be able to read it at that distance. “Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming for U.A., Japan’s top academy! We’re all here today in the hopes of being molded into model heroes!”

The boy then turned around, facing Izuku. “And, you, with the curly hair!” Izuku just raised an eyebrow at the address the teen chose for him. Really? Curly hair? “You’ve been muttering this whole time… it’s distracting!” Bullshit. He didn’t even mutter at all this time. All he did was provide reactions for Present Mic and answer Katsuki’s somewhat-question. “If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!”

_ A game, huh…  _ Kinkō pondered.

“And I suppose shouting out your views is less distracting than gathering your thoughts quietly?” Izuku asked pointedly. The teen bristled and was about to reply, but Present Mic interrupted.

“Alright, alright,” the hero exclaimed. “Examinee seven-thousand-one-hundred-and-eleven, nice catch. Thanks! But the fourth faux villain variety gets you zero points! He’s more of an obstacle!” Izuku twitched.  _ Again with the ‘he’ bullcrap…  _ “Have you all played  _ Super Mario Brothers? _ ”  _ Who hasn’t? _ “It’s kind of like a Thwomp! Only one at each site! A ‘gimmick’ that’ll ramage around in close quarters!”

The crowd burst out into whispers after that explanation as people wondered why there would be a faux villain that was worth zero points in the first place.

_ I’m sure we’ll find out soon, _ Kinkō said darkly.  _ It’s probably a test of some sorts, meant to distract from the true meaning. _

_ We’ll see. _

“That’s all from me!” the voice hero concluded. “I’ll leave my listeners with our school motto. The great hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said… ‘True heroism consists in being superior to the ills in life.’ Plus ultra! Break a leg everyone!”

With that, they were ushered to their respective gates. Izuku took a deep breath as he saw the large city behind those walls.

_ We can do this, _ Kinkō reassured him.  _ This is what we’ve been training for. And even if we don’t make it… _

_ This isn’t our last option, _ Izuku concluded.

While everyone else was still gawking at the city, Izuku noticed the girl—Uraraka—taking deep breaths with her eyes closed by the edge of the group. He walked over to wish good luck to her one last time—he still owed her a tiny bit for when she stopped him from falling—but a hand on his shoulder stopped him from moving.

“That girl seems to be doing some kind of meditation,” the familiar voice reprimanded him. Izuku turned around to see glasses-boy glaring at him. “Why are you here? Hoping to interfere?”

Izuku smiled coldly, baring his teeth at the teen restricting him from moving. Everyone watching them froze and shivered as he shook the other’s hand off his shoulder. “I wasn’t aware that simply wishing a person good luck was considered interfering,” he said placidly, eyes too narrow to be calm. “Perhaps you could mayhaps  _ enlighten _ all of us on manners and etiquette? I, for one, would be willing to sit in on  _ that _ lesso—”

“And… begin!”

Izuku shot off like a bullet, not even bothering to finish his thought as he left the rest of the group in the dust.

“What’s wrong? The test’s started! Run! Run! The die is cast!” Present Mic exclaimed.

Izuku certainly wasted no time. The instant he saw an enemy, he shot out his earbuds and popped it’s head off. He scaled up a lamppost in record time, throwing a few marbles at more enemies, not even bothering to count his points. It was pointless, and it would take up too much of his focus. All he did was weave between both opponents and enemies alike, snagging kills that would’ve originally gone to another person if it weren’t for him, not caring about stupid things such as honor. It was kill or be killed, and Izuku would rather be the killer than the corpse.

Of course, he also analyzed the other contestant’s Quirks as he fought the robots. Uraraka’s floating Quirk, some French kid’s laser, glasses-guy’s speed Quirk, and a few others. He recounted everything he saw quietly into the recorder even as he dismantled his enemies. Information was power, as he told All Might, and he took all the information he could get.

Although… Izuku  _ was _ a little bit taken aback when the huge ass fucking robot appeared.

_ A ‘gimmick’ that’ll rampage around in close quarters, huh…  _ Kinkō muttered.

_ Didn’t expect it to be that big, _ Izuku said faintly as he stared, even as others were running away from it. It was interesting though…  _ I kinda wanna see what it does. _

“Oww…” a groan came from his right. Izuku looked over and saw Uraraka trapped under some rubble.

_ Well, there’s your excuse to stay and watch it, _ Kinkō provided.

Izuku snorted and ran towards the huge robot. He leaped up, probably farther than a normal person would be able to, and landed on its arm. Even as it tried to shake him off, he ran up its body, dropping exploding marbles every few steps. Finally, he reached its head. He threw about ten or so marbles at its neck, shot out his earbuds, and  _ pulled. _

The neck creaked and dented. Izuku pulled harder even as he walked closer and walked up its head, using the wire as a hold to keep him there. He wasn’t going to use Kidō right now, not for the entrance exam.

He then pulled out one of his butcher knives and shoved it in one of the red circles that probably functioned as an eye. Then pulled it out and did it again. And again. And  _ again. _ Until all of the circles were cracked, shattered, and fizzing with electricity.

Then, he shoved a ton of marbles into each of the holes and let the wire of the earbuds go loose, allowing him to fall.

The head exploded, causing the rest of the body to tumble down and never get up again. Izuku looked around for anything to send his earbuds at to direct his fall and slow it, but just as he saw a lamppost close enough to him, a hand slapped him on the face.

And he froze in mid-air, floating for the second time that day.

“Re… lease,” he heard Uraraka say weakly from above him, and he was deposited gently on the floor, even as he heard the clatter of metal hit the floor besides him. Then the sound of retching reached his ears, and he stumbled to his feet.

“You okay?” he asked Uraraka, holding her hair out of her face for her while she vomited. Was that the drawback of her Quirk? Nausea wasn’t fun…

“Yeah,” she gasped.

“It’s all… over!” Present Mic exclaimed dramatically.

Izuku ignored all the murmuring and mutterings of the crowd about his performance as he helped Uraraka sit up. “Thank you for helping me,” he said as he rubbed her back gently, letting her hair down once she stopped letting her breakfast out.

“Yes, well done,” an old lady called out, interrupting whatever response Uraraka would give. “Well done. Good work. Yes, yes. Haribo candy for all. Eat up.”

Once she reached Izuku and Uraraka, she shoved candy into their hands as well. “Any injuries? No? Well, good job.” She then shuffled away.

_ Recovery Girl, huh…  _ Kinkō hummed.  _ Almost forgot she worked here for a moment. _

_ U.A. wouldn’t do so many stupid things without having someone there to clean up after them, _ Izuku rolled his eyes as he stared after her, watching as she kissed some injured guy on the forehead to heal him.  _ At least they might have some common sense because she’s here. _

_ One can hope. _

After that, Uraraka and Izuku parted ways, wishing each other a good day and good luck.

A week later, the letter arrived after dinner. He picked up the mail and told his mom that he was going to go open it in his room. Thankfully, his mom wasn’t twitchy or worried at all, so that helped calm whatever nerves Izuku might’ve had. He decided to rip it off like a band-aid and opened the seal quickly, pulling out a machine and placing it on his desk.

A hologram of All Might appeared in front of him. “This is a projection!” it declared. “It’s been a while. There’s been much to deliberate on. Ahem. Apologies! I’m in town for one reason only,” he explained. “I’ve come to teach at U.A.” A hand came from offscreen to gesture at All Might, probably telling him to hurry the fuck up and get this shit over with. Izuku empathized with the nameless hand. “What’s that you say? Get to the point?” Aha. He was right. “Whatever I want to say to him… can be said later? Ah, fine. Got it…” The hologram fixed it’s attention back on Izuku. “You passed with flying colors in both the written and practical exam! However, let me entertain you! Please watch the screen!”

The hero pressed a button on the remote he was holding, causing the screen behind him to turn on. Uraraka showed up, and she was talking to Present Mic. “Excuse me, but…” The screen paused, courtesy to All Might.

“She came to see us right after the test!” the hero explained. “Why, you ask? Stay tuned!”

The clip resumed. “Um, that curly-haired boy… with freckles… you know the one…? He’s, uh, really plain-looking.”

Wow.  _ That _ certainly did things for his ego.

“Can you give him some of the points I earned?”

Wait, what?

“He was really nice!” she explained eagerly. “He saved me from that zero-pointer, and even stayed afterwards to help me when I was suffering from nausea from overusing my Quirk! He could’ve gone on to get more points, but he stayed! So… at least however many points he gave up trying to save me…!”

“Even without a Quirk…” Izuku snickered. All Might had  _ no _ idea, did he? Poor guy. “You’ve moved others with your actions.”

“That boy…” Uraraka continued. “He saved my life!”

“This exam, you see…!” All Might exclaimed. “We weren’t just watching for villain-based points!”

“I’m afraid we can’t give him your points,” Present Mic comforted the brown-haired girl, patting her on the head softly. “But there shouldn’t be a need for it, my little listener!”

“A hero course that rejects those who do the right thing…” All Might declared, “is no hero course at all! Think this is all for the cameras?”  _ Yes. _ “Think what you want! In this job, you risk your life and put your money where your mouth is!  _ Rescue points _ were also a factor here!” the Pro Hero revealed. “Another fundamental way for U.A. to evaluate you! Sixty points for Midoriya Izuku! On top of your villain points, that makes for one-hundred-and-two points in total!” He then added on, almost as an afterthought. “And while we’re at it, forty-five for Uraraka Ochako!”

All Might held out a hand palm up towards the camera. “You’re in,” he stated. “Come now, Midoriya! This will be your hero academy!”

_ Well…  _ Kinkō said as the projection turned off.  _ The guy sure knows how to give a speech, even when it’s not needed and is in fact more annoying than helpful. _

Izuku agreed and went downstairs to tell his mom the news.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Kudos, comment, subscribe: all that good stuff! I thrive off of it, as do many (read: all) other authors do. (Probably. I don't like to assume tho XD)


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